


As it Happens

by JupiterIsaJellyfish



Series: Cryptid Found Footage: The Leviathan [2]
Category: Leviathan - rest_in_rip, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Leviathan!Izuku, Lizuku-Typical self worth issues, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Post USJ, Tsukauchi has dad potential, a little hesitant to post this, and I'm here just jumping right on in, let me know if you think I should add warnings, mentions of the death penalty, since both Leviathan and Rampage are getting close
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 21:14:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15421722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JupiterIsaJellyfish/pseuds/JupiterIsaJellyfish
Summary: The League of Villains attacked USJ. Izuku doesn't remember much, but he knows that he blew it (along with probably half the facility's infrastructure). But then why is he in a gently lit hospital room, and why is this detective guy being so kind?





	As it Happens

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pipefoxesonthemoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pipefoxesonthemoon/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Leviathan](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13216827) by [rest_in_rip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rest_in_rip/pseuds/rest_in_rip). 



> Like the rest of this series this is only palatable if you're familiar with rest_in_rip's Leviathan. I can't wait for Leviathan to reach the USJ arc because there are so many ways it could go down and all of them end with us pushing up daisies.

This… had never happened before. 

Izuku hung, lightning frozen in a camera lens, over a decimated plaza. Everything was small and crystal clear, magnified and sharpened by eyes meant to scope out the chasms of the oldest oceans.

The serrated wailing in his head harmonized with his other senses.

Weird. 

Every time the Leviathan gained any level of control, Izuku knew to throw himself against its chains, chains which now sank into an ocean filling his head. 

Maybe Izuku had finally lost it. 

Maybe the Leviathan was finally gone.

It didn’t matter. Hanging in the air like paused thunder, Midoriya the Leviathan screamed, and all his enemies felt the fear of Death. 

———

He knew this would happen, eventually. 

What he didn’t understand was the hospital bed. 

Thinking complete thoughts made his head throb, so he wasn’t going to figure it out on his own any time soon. Izuku just stared at his unscaled, completely human hands, and waited. Actually, no, waiting sucks, and everything is bad. Instead he stared at his still unscaled, still human hands, and agonized.

Everything is bad, but there’s no screaming? 

The Leviathan is there, it’s weight borderline alien as it curls up in the depths of a mental sea. It would almost be comforting if it wasn’t so mind-bendingly weird. 

They’re about to die, and the Leviathan is leaving him alone? 

Maybe it knew they were doomed. 

Someone came in, footsteps gentle and unfamiliar. Izuku looked up and saw a tall man in a beige trench coat. He wore a calm smile, but tension lies behind his eyes. Of course there was, he knows he’s looking at the Leviathan. 

“Izuku Midoriya, my name is Tsukauchi. I’m a detective with the police force and help them work with heroes,” the man said in a remarkable example of an inside voice, “I’m here to ask you some questions”. Which Izuku would put money on meaning ‘I’d really rather all of this was a melatonin nightmare’ and, fine, so did Izuku. 

But it wasn’t. He’d become the Leviathan in front of his classmates, his teachers, and a dozen or so small-time thugs with perfectly reliable eyesight. 

He had no idea how many of those people had survived. He barely remembered what had triggered the loss of control in the first place. At that thought, the Leviathan shuddered.

Blood. Manic laughter. Strangers, strangers who wanted to ~~eat~~ _no_ ~~kill~~ the ones that were ~~unthreatening~~ _no_ ~~familiar~~ _better_ ~~safe~~ _almost_ **kind**. The Leviathan’s kaleidoscope vision was filled with flashes of ~~frozenfamilarfaces~~ and ~~terrifiedangrythreatenedand~~ _him_. 

Tsukauchi repeated his name, his head inclined in benign concern.

Izuku took a deep, stuttered breath and straightened up.

“What was the damage?” Because screw the detective’s questions, Izuku was prioritizing here.

To his credit, Tsukauchi barely startled. His shoulders dropped a millimeter and he carefully took a seat on the small white chair by the bed.

“Aizawa sustained fractures in his skull and broken limbs from Nomu, the monster the villains brought with them. Several villains were rendered incapacitated by Eraserhead and… by your efforts,” Tsukauchi trailed off a bit but, much to Izuku’s surprise, it only lasted for a moment. “No students were seriously hurt. Number 13 needed medical attention, but both they and Aizawa are are expected to recover”.

Izuku nodded. Ok, so that sounded like no one was killed. At least none of the heroes. But villains didn’t always deserve their omission from tragedies. He wouldn’t let himself celebrate yet. Taking another, shorter breath, Izuku folded his hands and looked away.

“I’m sorry. I know this would be easier if Eraserhead was awake, but I guess we’ll just have to deal. It’s… calm right now- dunno how long that will last though,” Izuku said in a tired decrescendo. Tsukauchi watched him with masked confusion, but it faded quickly.

“You’ve thought about this,” he said softly.

Izuku snorted, but suddenly found himself fighting off tears, “‘course I have. You can’t just ruin dozens of lives and… and pretend…” dang it, you’d think after years of holding back a monster he could hold back some tears. He dragged a palm across his face and tried to regain his composure.

More deep breathing, a moment of respectful quiet, and he was fine again. He carefully kept Tsukauchi’s face in his periphery, and continued.

“I know what I am- I know… ugh. I’ve done my research. I know where this is going, and I just want to get it over with. I won’t resist,” Izuku finished, slumping subconsciously.

Tsukauchi dropped the carefully crafted clemency. He shifted, plastic chair creaking, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Midoriya, I need you to look at me,” and Izuku did.

“Where do you think this is going?”

Something foamed in Izuku’s throat and came out as a choked, terrified laugh. It seemed like such a cruel question.

“You’re going to have to euthanize me, right?”

Tsukauchi’s form suddenly felt much closer and much heavier. Izuku was vaguely reminded of All Might. When he spoke it was almost a murmur, but the volume was the same, “I’ve been following this case for over a decade. We didn’t know what the correlation between Blade and the Leviathan was but…” the moment hung like heavy clouds.  
“You were the hostage, weren’t you?”

Izuku blinked, suddenly off kilter. What did that matter? Blade was no saint, but he didn’t deserve to take blame for the Leviathan. He wasn’t sure what Tsukauchi was after, but he was tired of hiding, so he nodded his head.

Tsukauchi stayed frozen and intense for just a moment longer before deflating. His eyes stayed heavy and he opened his hands.

“Do you really think anyone here could justify killing a child for something not even a superhero could reasonably control? You’re not going to die; all we want to do is figure out how we can best help you,” Tsukauchi said, quiet and kind.

Izuku felt something fall, crumbling like stones into the ocean. It wasn’t so much that a weight had been lifted, more like he was the weight, all gravity and nothing. Free, even. The tears came back and he didn’t stifle them.

———

Tsukauchi never thought it would happen like this.

When he envisioned the Leviathan he merged rushed glimpses with trembling witness accounts and made a terrifying monster. Now he was comforting it- a terrified child. He felt like an awkward step-dad, only his step-son was part homicidal lizard.

He barely knew this kid.

This kid was crying into his chest.

He’d kill a man for this sad lizard.

Ok not literally, but seeing the exhausted, defeated look in his eyes give way to a confused sort of hope gave him the strength to jump mountains.

It was energy he’d need, because this would take a lot of explaining. And string pulling. And favor calling. And paperwork.

Tsukauchi sighed, carefully patting the now-less-distressed student’s poofy head.

Even now, the Leviathan was making his life a bizarre flavor of hell. But at this point, that was just his life.

They’d deal.

**Author's Note:**

> This also comes from the Discord, and this time it's Cuttlefish's fault. Blame them :D


End file.
